The Wine of My Ancestors

There once were two brothers, Andrew and Balthasar Ress. They were born in Bavaria in the 1820's. When Andrew grew up, he left Bavaria for America and settled in Ohio. When Balthasar grew up he left Bavaria for Rheingau and planted a vineyard. Andrew is my great, great, great grandfather. I found my fifth cousin, Christian Ress on Facebook. He looks like my brother. He and his father, Stefan Ress, who looks like my father, run the Balthasar Ress Winery.

It took a little work, but I was able to find a local wine store that was willing to order a few bottles of Balthasar Ress Riesling for me. I was hoping I'd love it. The bottle does, after all, have my name on it. I opened a bottle last night to have with pork roast, hot buttered egg noodles, and steamed mustard greens. The smell of it was crisp and citrusy. The first taste was a wonderful lemony, tart apple, that ends with a butter-honey finish. This wine is both refreshing and rich. It's lovely. The wine of my ancestors is a divine nectar.

Mr. McMurphy Would Like a Petite Sirah

My parents are wine people. They’ve been collecting and enjoying wine since the 70’s when whites were all the rage. They have been to wine country…many of them, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia, and several times to California. So, when they recommend a wine, I listen. This year for my birthday, they sent me three Pedroncellis from Sonoma. I opened one of them last night, a Petite Sirah. I knew that Petite Sirah (no relation, whatsoever, to Syrah) was a very heavy red. But I did not know what a grown up wine it was. This wine is structured, balanced and tight. There was nothing fruity about it. If it were a person, Pedroncelli Petite Sirah would be nurse Ratched, strict and humorless, yes, but also very focused, disciplined, and intense. The color is a deep purple red. The nose is peppery, cedar and the flavor has hints of licorice. The finish is long with good tannins. All in all, the Pedroncelli Petite Sirah is a very satisfying, grown-up glass of wine.

Lost in Lodi

One of the appealing things about wine is reading the label and letting one's mind wander to that particular village, whether it's in France, Argentinia, or California. The wines that are made from grapes all on one vineyard are especially intriguing. They seem more pure and genuine, as if one vintner has welcomed you to his or her home and shared centuries of a family's work with you, a stranger.

The other day in Costco, the wine lady suggested I try a Cameron Hughes Zinfandel. The deal with Cameron Hughes is that his wines are not from a particular vineyard. Mr. Hughes buys wines from an area and bottles it. He's not a vintner, but a negociant. For the customer that means you can get a better wine for a lower price, you just don't know exactly what it is you're drinking. Last night I tried his Lot 160 Zinfandel, Lodi, 2008. The nose was dirt and cherries. The taste was a raisin cherry with spice. The finish was long and tannic. It's a rich wine with lots of flavors mingling in and out of each sip. Drinking this wine was like being lost in a lush viney forest filled with berries and wet earth. It was rich and delicious. Even though I don't know exactly where this wine came from, nor where exactly this wine took me, it was a lovely place to be.

A Fine Line

Paul Jaboulet Aine, Parallel 45 from Cote de Rhone, this is the Rhone I've been wanting to try since reading about it. I found it at Ben's for $13. It's 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah. The vines are 25 years old. The wine is aged in stainless steel tanks. The wine is from Pont de l'Isere village which is on the 45th parallel. This is soil near Hermitage where vineyards have been in existence for more than 2000 years! That just fires the imagination. The nose is chocolate and berries. The taste is rhaspberry, lemon, and soil. This is a smooth wine with a long tannic finish. Parallele 45 is a fine line.

The Unbearable Lightness of Vinho Verde

Vinho Verde is at the very top of Mark Oldman's body list for wines. It is the lightest wine. It's also a wine I've never tried. So, when I saw one in Trader Joe's for $5 I decided to find out for myself what the lightest wine is like. Espiral Vinho Verde from Portugal is colorless, sparkling, acidic and lemony. It's not unlike tonic water with a lemon twist and an acidic tang. I served it with poached talapia and polenta. It's not a bad wine. I can see drinking it on a hot Summer day... when you don't feel like drinking real wine.

I Know Why the Nun is Blue

In his book, Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine, Mark Oldman prefaces his section on Riesling with the acknowledgment that many of us were introduced to Riesling in college, and remember them as sickeningly sweet and headache-inducing. It's like he knows my life story. I hadn't had a Riesling since college for that very reason. The other night I decided to give Riesling another chance. I found a Chateau St. Michelle Rielsing on sale at Ben's liquor store for $6. I served it with caraway chicken and a very German red cabbage cooked with bacon, shallots, vinegar, and brown sugar. The Riesling wasn't overly sweet at all. It was lemon-crisp with an apply-pear flavor, very smooth and very balanced. Riesling is a very versatile wine that can be paired with many styles of cuisine. This is definitely a wine I'll buy again.

Good Friends are Like Good Wine

No, wait, that's not what I meant...Good friends who like good wine are good friends to have. My good friend, Shelly, gave me a delicious bottle of Sebastiani Barbera (primarily barbera with a little petite syrah) for my birthday. I cracked it open tonight. Wow, not only is Shelly a good friend, she has excellent taste in wine. I've had Barbera before, but never one as good as this. The color is a deep purple red, like a beautiful ruby. It's peppery on the nose. The taste is a nutty, brambly, smokey, licorice with a long hot finish, smooth and delicious. It's been a long time since I've had a red wine this good. Thank you, Shelly.

I Thought My First Would Be More Memorable Category

My favorite wine is Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Sauvignon is the predominant grape in Bordeaux. Bordeaux is what made Thomas Jefferson fall in love with wine. I had a crush on Thomas Jefferson when I was 13. Ergo, I was sure my first Bordeaux would be a mind-blowing experience. I found a Bordeaux at Trader Joe's for six bucks, Les Caves Joseph. It's a right bank, because there is more Merlot than Cab in the wine. However, price and bank aside, I expected to find something spectacular in this bottle. I'm more than a little disappointed. It's not a bad wine at all. There are some floral and chocolate notes on the nose. It finishes with a medium mineral terroir. It's very drinkable, just not spectacular. I know there's a much better Bordeaux out there, and I will find it. In the mean time I'm going to finish this glass, so I can have a piece of chocolate cake. One way or another I will pursue happiness.

Heaven is Imported from Alsace Category

In his book 'Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine,' Mark Oldman gives the delicious tidbit that Alsacian wines are the latest thing amongst people in the know about wine. And he points out that when you talk about them, you should put a strong stress on the second syllable, as in 'Al SAY shun' wine. I love tips like that. It makes me feel like I've been let in on a secret handshake. Alsace is in the Northeast corner of France, near Germany. I remember learning in high school French class, that it is an area that has been passed back and forth between France and Germany for the past several centuries. Though it now belongs to France (since 1919) it has a very strong German influence in it's food, culture, and now I know it's wine. Alsace produces white wines such as Gewurtztraminer and Riesling. I scored a Gewurtz, Michel Leon at Trader Joe's for 10 bucks. It came in a long, tapered-neck bottle, like the German wines do. When I first opened it, I smelled a light floral scent, and feared that it might be too sweet for my tastes. It isn't. The taste is granny smith apples with butter and a lemon twist. There's a spicy tang that gives it a tonic quality. The flavors go great with Asian like I made tonight, salmon roasted with a soy, ginger, onion and crushed red pepper sauce. Though there was nothing restrained about the flavor of this wine, neither was it overpowering. It's crisp and tart with a spicy zing. Now, I can say I love Al SAY tion wines and not just for effect... I really mean it.

Argentinian Balance

The balance of a wine is like the director of a movie. Unless it's really good, I don't pay that much attention to it. Last week I wanted to try an Argentinian Malbec wine. The Malbec falls between the Primitivo and the Zinfandel on my weight chart. So, it is on the heavy side of red. I found one at my local wine store, Finca Flichman, for $8. The tannins, the acidity, the heat, the flavor were all beautifully balanced. This is a very smooth wine with a soft, velvety rose flavor at the front, and some hints of strawberry and chocolate. It's finish is medium and smooth. It's the perfect pasta wine. I served it with a sauce of mushrooms, olives, sun dried tomato, real tomato, anise,wine, procuitto, parm, and toasted pecans. That was a meal.

LaGranja, My First Tempranillo

In my quest to expand my wine experience, I went out looking for a Rioja. It's a Spanish wine made from the Tempranillo grape. I've never tried it, and wanted to. My first time out, I didn't find a Rioja, but I did find a LaGranja also made from the Tempranillo grape. It was very inexpensive, $3.99 at Trader Joe's. But it got a good review on Jason's wine blog, a good wine for the money. I opened it the other night. It was extremely tannic as in coated my mouth with a thick, dusty, dryness. I let it sit for an hour, then tried it again. This time the front of it tasted like sour rhaspberries in vinegar. The finish was short and mucky-muddy. You get what you pay for, but I don't think I even got that. Next time I'll try a real Rioja.

Viognier

I recently read a book called 'Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine,' by Mark Oldman. It is the clearest wine guide that I have come across. He puts the grapes in context. So, for a wine novice like myself, this book sets up a lot of points of reference which makes understanding wine a whole lot easier. I learned a lot from this book like for example, Chablis, White Burgundy, and most Champagnes are all made from the Chardonnay grape. New World Chardonnays (Australia, US, etc) are heavier than European Chardonnays because the New World uses new oak which gives the wine a stronger flavor. Red Burgundy is made from Pinot Noir grapes. Northern Rhone wines are made from a Syrah blend. Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape. Australians call it Shiraz. Everyone else calls it Syrah, except the French who call it Northern Rhone wine. Southern Rhone is a blend with predominantly Grenache, and some Syrah. Left bank Bordeaux is a Cabernet Sauvignon blend. Right bank Bordeaux is a Merlot blend. I'm sure for someone who knows a lot about wine this is basic and an oversimplification. But for a novice like myself, this book really gives me a handle on the world of wine. In the book Oldman gives a list of the most commonly used grapes from light to heavy. In my quest to better appreciate white wine (I'm a red wine drinker, with a strong preference for Cab.) I noticed the Viognier grape listed just before the New World Chardonnay. From his description of the flavor, my curiousity was peaked. I found a bottle of Viognier at our local Ben's liquor store. It was a little pricey at $17, a California Bridlewood. In my cook book of wine pairing, I found a recipe for Paprika chicken in a creamy mushroom and caraway sauce with an apricot/onion relish, which was recommended with a Viognier. We had it last night. The viognier is a heavy body with a strong spicey, gingery, toasted almond flavor. It's like the flavor of a good dessert wine, except that it isn't at all sweet. There's nothing delicate about this wine. It's a wine you can really bite into. It holds it's own with a flavorful, rich dish like the paprika chicken. And the dish seemed to enhance the nutty flavor of the wine. While I think of white wines as compatible with a hot Summer day, the Viognier is so heavy, spicey and full of flavor, it makes a great Winter white.